Page:Repertory of the Comedie Humaine.djvu/356

 born Zelie Levrault-Cremiere, physically feeble, sour of countenance and action, harsh, greedy, as illiterate as her husband, brought him as dower half of her maiden name (a local tradition) and a first-class tavern. She was, in reality, the manager of the Nemours post-house. She worshiped her son Desire, whose tragic death was sufficient punishment for her avaricious persecutions of Ursule de Portenduere. She died insane in Doctor Blanche's sanitarium in the village of Passy in 1841. (Ursule Mirouet)

MINORET (Desire), son of the preceding couple, born in 1805. Obtained a half scholarship in the Louis-le-Grand lyceum in Paris, through the instrumentality of Fontanes, an acquaintance of Dr. Minoret; finally studied law. Under Goupil's leadership he became somewhat dissipated as a young man, and loved in turn Esther van Gobseck and Sophie Grignault&mdash;Florine&mdash;who, after declining his offer of marriage, became Madame Nathan. Desire Minoret was not actively associated with his family in the persecution of Ursule de Portenduere. The Revolution of 1830 was advantageous to him. He took part during the three glorious days of fighting, received the decoration, and was selected to be deputy attorney to the king at Fontainebleau. He died as a result of the injuries received in a runaway, October, 1836. (Ursule Mirouet)

MIRAH (Josepha), born in 1814. Natural daughter of a wealthy Jewish banker, abandoned in Germany, although she bore as a sign of her identity an anagram of her Jewish name, Hiram. When fifteen years old and a working girl in Paris, she was found out and misled by Celestine Crevel, whom she left eventually for Hector Hulot, a more liberal man. The munificence of the commissary of stores exalted her socially, and gave her the opportunity of training her voice. Her vocal attainments established her as a prima donna, first at the Italiens, then on rue le Peletier. After Hector Hulot became a bankrupt, she abandoned him and his house on rue Chauchat, near the Royal Academy, where,